Malachite

Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral. This opaque, green banded mineral crystallises in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses, in fractures and spaces, deep underground, where the water table and hydrothermal fluids provide the means for chemical precipitation.

It said the mineral was given this name due to its resemblance to the leaves of the Mallow plant. Malachite was used as a mineral pigment in green paints from antiquity until about 1800.

It has also been used for decorative purposes, such as in the Malachite Room in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, which features a huge malachite vase.

The Malachite Room in Castillo de Chapultepec de in Mexico City. "The Tazza", a large malachite vase, one of the largest pieces of malachite in North America and a gift from Tsar Nicholas II, stands as the focal point in the centre of the room of Linda Hall Library.

Archeological evidence indicates that the mineral has been mined and smelted at Timna Valley in Israel for over 3,000 years. Since then, malachite has been used as both an ornamental stone and as a gemstone.

Malachite comes from various worldwide places such as Democratic Rupublic of Congo, Gabon, Zambia, Namibia, Mexico, New South Wales, France, Israel and southwestern United States, most notably in Arizona.